Legal: I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, characters, events etc. Anything not covered by this should be presumedo be purelythe creation of the author.
Timeline: During "Test of the Leader", and directly fllowing my one-shot "Love REALLY Hurts".
Kevin and Mia went for a walk after dinner, just as they had agreed. It was a beautiful summer's evening, and the sun was still bright in the sky as they started to make their way through the streets towards the park.
Mia kept glancing over to Kevin as he walked by her side, bravely hiding the slight hobble caused by his injured knee. He always did put on a brave face, especially around her. She still couldn't stop thinking about the conversation she had overheard between Kevin and Mentor Ji. She had always thought of Kevin as a great friend, but since she had overheard him admitting that he liked her, she was beginning to think a lot more about the time they had spent together. She couldn't believe she hadn't seen it before.
She took his arm and placed it around her shoulders, and wrapped her own arm around his back as they walked. Kevin smiled feeling this. He had an idea that she might just be offering him some support, since she was still worried about his knee, but he loved any chance he got to hold her. As they made their way through a market place, she looked up to him.
"You're not saying much." She stated as they politely refused the advances of a slightly pushy pretzel vendor.
"I'm sorry?" He asked her.
"You said you wanted to talk about something." She reminded him. She felt herself getting a little warmer as she said this. She had heard the conversation between Kevin and Mentor Ji, and she knew that he had urged Kevin to talk to her. When he had asked her to go for a walk with him, she figured that it was possible he wanted to take her to tell her how he felt. She didn't know exactly how she would respond, but she was finding herself excited by the prospect of hearing it from him. Kevin seemed to shift a little nervously next to her.
"There are a lot of people around." He replied, somewhat side-stepping the question. Mia looked around and realised he was right. He had asked to walk through the park, not the greatest option given his knee injury since it was some distance away, but thinking about this, it was making more sense. He wanted to go there because it was quiet. He really was about to share with her how he felt about her. She just nodded her head in agreement.
"There are a lot of people around." She agreed as she led him in the direction of the park. She bumped into a kid a year or two younger than Emily in a green shirt and wearing a wicker hat, almost causing him to drop his paper grocery bag.
"Sorry." She said apologetically.
"No problem." He replied as they walked away, heading for the park. A much larger, older man in a denim vest came over to him.
"Did you get those baguettes?" He asked the kid, checking in the bag. "You know how important diet is to a Samurai."
"Yeah, I did Uncle Bulk." The kid said a little dreamily, casting his gaze back to the couple walking away towards the park. "Hey, did you see her...?"
"You're as bad as your father Spike, always chasing the hopeless cause." Bulk sighed, knocking his knuckled on the young kid's head like he was checking a melon for ripeness. "Did you not see the guy she was with? It's obvious they're together."
"Maybe they're friends?" Spike suggested, a goofy smile crossing his lips. Bulk just shook his head in disbelief and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck, dragging him away.
"Even if they are, she's too old for you." Bulk reminded him. "Come on, stop wasting time fantasising about girls and get your mind back on a goal you can achieve...being a Samurai!"
"I don't see why it's so ridiculous." Spike muttered as he walked with his uncle. "Dad did marry Kim eventually."
Meanwhile, in his junk floating on the Sanzu River, Lord Xandred was striding around the deck of his chamber, quaffing large quantities of his medicine and listening to Dayu playing soothing music on her Harmonium. His rage had been suppressed for years, ever since the last Red Ranger had sealed him in the Netherworld. His inability to venture into the human realm to unleash his fury on humans had caused it to build within him. His rage was a terrifying thing to behold, and with nothing to unleash it on save his own forces and his own junk ship, it had built to the point it caused him tremendous pain. Only his medicine and Dayu's music could calm him without bloodshed, but even that didn't remove his pain, merely ease it for a time.
Octoroo came into the room carrying some books, some of them spilling from his arms as he ran into the chamber.
"Lord Xandred, Lord Xandred I need to talk to you!" He called out. "I have some excellent news!"
"Make it quick!" Lord Xandred snapped angrily as he held up a hand, gesturing Dayu to stop playing. "It better be good. My head is..."
"Lord Xandred, I believe I've discovered the secret to the sealing power that's keeping you down here!" He called out. "I believe we've been handling this all wrong. What's worse, I believe that Dekker knows the secret, and he's deliberately keeping it from you."
"Stop speaking in riddles and spit it out!" Xandred roared, his patience growing thinner by the moment. Octoroo quailed in fear from him. He had found something that he believed would allow his master to tear down the seal between the worlds, and once again raid the human world. It was an attractive prospect, Octoroo had been trapped in the realm in close proximity to Lord Xandred for years, living with the daily threat that one day his rage would be uncontrollable and he would fall beneath his sword. He longed for the day when he would have a whole world to separate himself from his master's tantrums, but he also had another motive.
He could still remember his conversation with Dekker on the banks of the Sanzu River. He had confronted him about his refusal to aid in Lord Xandred's plans, only to find Urumasa at his throat, and Dekker threatening his life. Octoroo knew he was no match for Dekker, but perhaps he could put Lord Xandred's rage to good use. If he was released and believed Dekker had betrayed him, then Octoroo would have his revenge for his humiliation. He didn't need to be able to destroy Dekker himself; all he'd have to do is point Lord Xandred in his direction.
"The answer is the Red Ranger." He told Lord Xandred. "If we destroy him, I believe the seal will be broken permanently. We haven't been putting enough resources..."
"You think I'm weak!" Lord Xandred roared, pulling out his sword and levelling it at Octoroo's neck. He just held his hands up defensively.
"No, no Lord Xandred, I just started thinking about what Dekker said when he said he wanted to destroy the Red Ranger." Octoroo said, smiling beneath his tentacles. He had already put the idea in Lord Xandred's mind that Dekker was double-crossing him. "I checked the archives, and it was the last Red Ranger that sealed you down here."
"You believe the symbol power for the seal is tied to the Shiba bloodline." Dayu surmised. Octoroo nodded.
"The Red Ranger does not have an heir. If he is destroyed, then the Shiba bloodline will be no more." He confirmed. "However, if he falls to Urumasa..."
"Dekker thinks he can play me for a fool?" Lord Xandred snarled, kicking a support beam so hard he caused the whole ship to rock ominously. Dayu and Octoroo grabbed onto anything they could to secure themselves. "Just like those Rangers? Moogers rise!"
As Octoroo held on for dear life, he could see hundreds of Moogers, both regular sized and giant rising from the banks of the Sanzu River. He smiled to himself despite the danger presented by his master's rage. He had started the ball rolling on killing two birds with one stone.
Meanwhile, Mia and Kevin had reached the park, and were making their way through it. Given the good weather, there were a few people around, but it was still quiet enough that they could find privacy. Kevin led her over to a spot just beneath a tree in the shade.
"Do you mind if we wait here for a minute?" He asked her. "My knee..."
"Of course." She replied, helping him sit down. In truth, his knee wasn't too bad, but he had found a spot with relatively few people around, and satisfied himself that he would get the privacy he was looking for. "So, um...you wanted to talk to me about something?"
"Yeah, I kind of did." Kevin began, starting to struggle now with finding the words to express what he wanted to. His mouth and throat were starting to dry out, and he was beginning to regret bringing this up. He wanted to tell her eventually, but it was just so hard. He had already put it off because of the whole incident with Jayden. "Ok, here goes."
He took a deep breath and looked to Mia, who was just kneeling before him, looking at him expectantly. She was trying not to let on that she knew what he wanted to talk about, but inside, her heart was racing.
"We've...um...we've been friends for a while right?" He asked her. She just smiled and nodded.
"Yeah, it's been months." She told him.
"Yeah, and we're pretty close right?" He asked her again. She smiled and nodded. He was getting there slowly, but it looked like he was building up the courage to finally say it. Again she just nodded.
"Sure, you know we are." Mia answered. "We've been through so much together. I feel like I could trust you with anything."
"Mia, I just wanted to ask you..." Just then, their Samuraizers bleeped.
"Damn it!" She muttered as they reached for their Samuraizers. Lord Xandred never did care much for their personal lives, but this time, his timing just completely sucked. Kevin was the first to answer his communicator.
"You're go for Kevin." He answered.
"There are Nighlocks all over the city centre." Jayden told him. "Of all sizes."
"We're in the park." Kevin told him. "We'll be there..."
"Mia, you go on ahead. Emily will meet you there on the ground." Jayden interrupted. "Kevin, we'll need the battle wing to deal with the big guys. Prepare the Swordfish Zord and rendezvous with me and Mike on the way."
"We're on our way." Mike assured him as Mia offered him a hand to help him up. He regretted the fact that this had happened. He really wanted to talk to her and let her know how he felt, perhaps even ask her out, but right now it seemed it wasn't to be. He looked to her regretfully. "I'm really sorry about this. Can we pick this up later?"
"Sure." She replied, hating the fact that they were interrupted. Making sure they weren't being watched, they morphed, preparing for action.
Meanwhile, in the city centre at that moment, Spike and Bulk were just finishing up their shopping. Bulk cared for his 'nephew' deeply, and really wanted to do a good job taking care of him. It was a great honour to him that his best friend of many years had trusted him to take care of his son. After spending most of the day gathering the best healthy produce he could find, he was taking Spike back to the storage unit they were using as their dojo.
"So Spike, what is the second tenant of being a Samurai?" Bulk asked him, testing him on his study of the stuff he had downloaded off the internet about Samurai.
"Um...courage and heroism." He replied. Bulk smiled a little.
"That's right." He commended him. "Now, what's the third?" Spike stopped to think for a moment, but as he turned to face him, Bulk saw his mouth hanging open and his bottom lip quivering. He seemed to hyperventilate and pointed behind him.
"MONSTERS!" He shrieked. Bulk just sighed and put his hands on his hips.
"No!" He snorted in exasperation. "It's..."
It was just then that he got a flashback to his High School days with Spike's father. He had acted the same way numerous times. Spike was so much like Skull that he regularly had such flashbacks. This one wasn't a good one though; he just froze as he got a horrible thought. Whenever Skull acted like that...he turned slowly to see Moogers running around behind him.
"MONSTERS! RUN!" Bulk screamed, beginning to run. Spike stopped suddenly.
"But what about courage and heroism?" Spike asked him. Bulk just groaned as he looked around for an answer. Trust the kid to pay attention to THAT part. He saw an umbrella sitting on the ground, obviously discarded in panic by its owner. He picked it up, wielding it like the Shinai he had made for himself and Spike.
"You're right." He stated. "This is what we've trained for!"
Spike took the two baguettes out of the bag, wielding one in each hand. He took a bite out of one as they prepared to charge.
"Terriyaki!" They called out together as they rushed into the fray. However, some of the Moogers turned towards them, and swords...REAL swords appeared in their hands. Bulk and Spike looked to their own arsenal...a couple of fresh-baked loaves and a nylon umbrella, before looking to each other, obviously realising that this was not exactly an even fight.
Turning tail and running, they dropped their "weapons" behind them. As they got to a patch of grass though, Spike lost his footing, face-planting straight into the lawn.
He turned over, looking up in terror as a couple of Moogers loomed over him. Just as he was about to resign himself to his doom, he saw a miraculous sight.
"Back off!" Mia screamed as she leapt into action, her sword flashing through the air in practiced arcs as she drove them away from the frightened teenager. Spike watched her, and all of a sudden, his heart soared. His thoughts left him as he saw the Pink Ranger fighting to rescue him. She came over to him, putting an arm around him to help him up. Spike leaned in, closing his eyes as he rested his head on her shoulder, lost in fantasy, completely oblivious to the battle going on around him.
"Kid, you better get out of here." She told him. She was about to move, but realised that he wasn't moving. She looked down to him. "Like...now?"
"Right now?" He asked her a little dreamily as his head rolled onto her shoulder and chest. Mia just coughed as she blushed a little at the display.
"Um...kid...?"
Bulk ran over, grabbing Spike, having finally realised his nephew wasn't with him. He stopped in awe as he saw Mia.
"You!" He said excitedly. "You're a Samurai Ranger!"
"Yes, I am." She told him, shrugging Spike off her shoulder a little too aggressively into Bulk's arms. "You two better get out of here!"
As she turned and ran to rejoin Emily in battle, Bulk pulled his nephew back to his feet and started to drag him away. He looked back, seeing the goofy way he was reaching out and looking down the path the Pink Ranger had taken.
"Spike, you are so much like your dad it's spooky." Bulk told him. "Come on!"
Back at the main battle, Mia rejoined Emily as she was cutting down droves of Moogers.
"These creeps just don't quit." She complained. "Where were you?"
"I was getting rid of a fan." Mia replied. "God, they just keep coming!"
"I hope the guys get here soon." Emily commented. Just on cue, the Samurai Battle Wing flew through the air to tackle the giant Moogers a couple of blocks off. Mia smiled as she saw it, knowing that meant they had collected Kevin from the park. She was worried about how much his knee might have slowed him down, but it seemed like he had made it after all thanks to the Swordfish Zord.
"They did it!" Emily shrieked excitedly as she watched them destroying the Giant Moogers.
"Not a moment too soon." Mia replied as more Moogers continued to spill out of the gaps all around them, swarming into the area. These things are like cockroaches!"
"Then we'll have to serve as the exterminators!" Jayden called out as he, Kevin and Mike arrived.
They fanned out in all directions, using all their power to take down enemies wherever they arose. It got a little while into the battle before something changed though. All of a sudden, all the gaps glowed red, and they could hear a low, rumbling voice calling out.
"Red Ranger, Red Ranger..." It droned on and on in a continuous monotone which reverberated throughout the whole area. The Rangers suddenly noticed a big change in the Moogers. Instead of attacking in a swarm like they normally did, all of a sudden, they all turned one way, the same way, and marched with intent towards one point.
"What's going on?" Kevin roared as he sliced down a couple, that didn't even attempt to defend themselves. They were focused on one point, and completely ignored him, even as he attacked them. "Fight me you cowards!"
"It's like they're in a trance." Mia commented.
"They're going after Jayden!" Emily screamed as she realised where they were all heading. They ignored the other Rangers, even if they cut down as a result, and all marched towards Jayden, surrounding him. Jayden fought for all he was worth against the concentrated swarm of opponents.
"Then we all know where they're going!" Mike told them. "Form up around Jayden!"
They all made their way over, taking up defensive positions around him. Jayden saw the situation and knew what was going on. It was a day he had been dreading somewhat ever since he had begun learning the legends of his family. He reached to his side, grabbing Emily's Spin Sword harshly and ripping it from her hand.
"Hey!" She yelled.
"I've got a symbol combination I've been wanting to try for a while." He announced, ramming both swords into the ground and taking Emily's Earth Disk off the hilt, tossing it to the ground as he mounted the lightning disk on it instead. He started both disks spinning simultaneously, and as he picked up both swords, the powers combined. "Fire Storm!"
"Holy shit!" Mike yelled. "Get down!"
The other four Rangers hit the deck as Jayden spun around, smashing all the remaining Moogers into oblivion. He de-morphed and started to walk towards the glowing red gap nearest them, staring at it intently.
"Um...a little warning next time?" Mike commented sarcastically. Mia just nudged him as they watched him staring into the glowing gap intently, like he was lost to the world.
"Red Ranger, you're in danger!" The voice taunted him, before the glow disappeared. The other Rangers de-morphed too, coming up behind him.
"I've never heard anything like that." Mia commented. "That was no ordinary Nighlock was it?"
"No." Jayden announced. "I think it was Master Xandred."
"Master Xandred's back?" Kevin asked. "But...why would he want only you?"
"This is a conversation best held back at the academy." Jayden put down flatly. "Come on."
As they were about to leave, Mike noticed Emily was a little way off, and didn't seem to have been part of the conversation. He saw her kneeling on the ground, picking up her Earth Disk. He came over, finding her staring at it, looking a little upset about something. He roused her attention by touching her shoulder.
"Emily?" He asked her. "Is everything alright?"
"Yeah." She replied half-heartedly as she got back up, putting her Earth Disk away.
"We're just heading back." Mike told her. "That was some pretty freaky stuff that just went down. We need to talk about it."
Emily just nodded and put an arm around him as they headed for the Academy.